


Exhaustion (and Several Applicable Side-Effects)

by Miss_Nihilist



Series: I Think There's a Fault in My Code [8]
Category: Astro Boy (2009)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Overworking, Sleep Deprivation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:49:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25749919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Nihilist/pseuds/Miss_Nihilist
Summary: "When was the last time you slept?" Doctor Elefun interrupted.Under his stare, Astro fidgeted uncomfortably. "I, um—" He cleared his throat, looking away. "I don't see why that would be important."
Relationships: Professor Ochanomizu | Dr. Packadermus J. Elefun & Atom | Astro Boy
Series: I Think There's a Fault in My Code [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767133
Comments: 8
Kudos: 54





	Exhaustion (and Several Applicable Side-Effects)

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt for this one is "worked themselves to exhaustion," which officially completes my bingo challenge set of fics! I hope you all enjoyed.

It was shaping up to be another long night at the lab. Doctor Elefun looked at his project, glanced over at the clock on the wall, and felt his motivation wilt. It was easier during the day when he had an entire team to help him, but working by himself tended to get depressing. 

The deadline for his progress report was coming up. On the screen in front of him, Elefun still had hundreds of lines of code to sort through. Not to mention, developing the toxin and the shape of his nanobots in general… His specialty wasn't with microscopic technology. But Elefun's current project was supposed to be able to dissolve the old, rusted corpses of robots that Metro City had dumped all over the Surface. Synthesizing a compound that could break down complex metals into their base components was a lot more complicated than Elefun had given it credit for. 

He put his fingers to the keyboard… and sighed, leaning back again. Maybe he ought to just go home and try working again once he'd gotten a full night's sleep. 

A noise startled Dr. Elefun from his thoughts, something clattering from across the lab. He stood up sharply and turned around, on high alert. Beyond his workspace, the yawning chasm of the lab was completely dark. It looked like it could go on forever. 

Elefun’s finger lingered over the trigger for the silent alarm. It wouldn’t be the first time that someone had broken into the Ministry. “Hello?” He called hesitantly.

It was quiet for a moment more, then a light was flicked on. Elefun blinked rapidly, adjusting to the sudden brightness, and dropped his hand away from the alarm. He relaxed to see that it was only Astro standing just inside the entryway. A pile of prototypes had been knocked over but, Elefun mussed, he could have tossed those a while ago anyway.

“Hi, Dr. Elefun.” Astro took a step closer when he saw that Elefun had relaxed, his leg dragging behind him like a limp. “Sorry to bother you. I didn’t interrupt anything important, did I?”

“No, my boy, of course not.” Elefun waved his hand dismissively. He noticed the way that Astro was standing, trying to hide his leg with the rest of his body. Standing up, he found himself drawing closer out of concern. “May I ask what brings you here so late?”

Astro forced a laugh that wasn’t believable for a moment. “Just, uh— picking up something for dad! Yeah, it’s for a project. He said it was really important and couldn’t wait until morning,” he said, lying through his teeth. 

Dr. Elefun raised a pointed brow. Late nights weren’t unusual for Tenma, and yet… “Astro, your father requested time off. He hasn’t been assigned to a new project all month.” And Elefun would know, because Tenma hadn't taken so much as a sick day in over a decade. Elefun was quite proud of his progress.

There was a flicker of panic on Astro’s face, a brief deer-in-the-headlights expression that would have been amusing if not for the worrying circumstances. “Yeah, r-right. Exactly. I knew that. See, he’s actually working on a, um… personal project. It’s an upgrade… For me! Yes. He wants to give me the ability to smell.”

He had the urge to remind Astro that he already _could_ smell but, sensing that the conversation would go in circles for hours if he let it, Dr. Elefun merely sighed. “Are you going to tell me what happened to your leg or not?”

For another second or two, Astro struggled with what to say, only to sigh in defeat. “It’s not a big deal,” he said, shifting in place while being careful to keep his weight off of his injured leg. “I was just going to patch it up and go back to patrolling. Seriously, it’s—” Astro muffled a yawn, turning to let Dr. Elefun finally get a look at his leg, “—nothing.”

It most definitely wasn’t “nothing,” as insistent as Astro was that the opposite was true. The skin had been split just below the knee joint, exposing the braces of his leg and the wires and connecting cables between them. A few wires were sparking and Elefun knew immediately that a “patch” wasn’t going to cut it. Those wires would need to be replaced entirely if it was going to prevent any long term damage. 

He almost asked what happened but stopped himself. Yes, what _had_ happened? Astro was so durable and his reaction time had been painstakingly whittled away by Tenma to no more than a few milliseconds, not to mention Astro’s advanced self-defense programming. 

Astro yawned again, swaying where he stood, and something occurred to Elefun. "Astro," he began, "how was your day, exactly? What all did you do?"

There was a lull in the conversation as Astro stared at him, confused, trying to puzzle out what Elefun was hoping to gain from such a question. He yawned, then shrugged with one arm and answered. "Well, I was hanging out with my friends today. A-And I did my best to stop a robbery as quickly as I could, because it's been a while since we saw each other and I didn't want to ruin it. Dad's birthday is tomorrow, so I was trying to find him a present. Something he doesn't already have or could easily get himself. Robots keep stopping by, asking me for energy or to perform repairs. People want autographs and pictures, all the time. And this—" Astro moved his busted up leg and winced as the sparking grew worse. "—happened when I was trying to stop some anti-robot activists. They had an EMP gun and I went down pretty hard through a building. O-Or two. And then I—"

"When was the last time you slept?" Doctor Elefun interrupted. Not angry or accusatory, just questioning. 

Under his stare, Astro fidgeted uncomfortably. "I, um—" He cleared his throat, looking away. "I don't see why that would be important." 

So Elefun was right in his assumption — it _had_ been a while. 

Still, he narrowed his eyes. " _Astro_ ," Elefun said, a warning in his voice. 

There was a long-suffering sigh, but Astro didn't have to ask what Elefun was waiting for him to say. "Okay, so it's been a few days. Maybe. Give-or-take. What's the big deal?" He hunched his shoulders, looking like he wanted to crawl out of his skin if it meant escaping the conversation.

That was about what Elefun had expected, but that didn't mean he was happy about it. Shaking his head, chastising, Elefun insisted, “Astro, that’s very irresponsible of you. You’re still a child and you need your sleep.”

Astro made a face. “I’m a robot with an endless energy supply. Why would I need to sleep?” He asked, as if he wasn't practically falling asleep on his feet.

Closing the distance between them, Dr. Elefun set a hand on Astro’s shoulder and nudged him over to the workbench. Parts from his own project covered the surface, so Dr. Elefun shoved it all to the side and gestured for Astro to climb up. After a moment’s hesitation, he did, though Astro didn’t seem happy about it. 

“Sleep isn’t just to replenish energy, Astro. It’s a mental break.” Dr. Elefun crossed to his wall of supplies, selecting a few wires that he remembered using from building Astro the first time. Tenma hadn’t been open to having a lab assistant, but Elefun could be _very_ stubborn. “You need to sleep to allow the brain to consolidate memories and process information. Your mind is still very human, Astro, and poor sleep has been linked to mental health problems and emotional vulnerability. Heaven forbid you should develop insomnia — it can cause hallucinations. And both of them have been known to lead to slower reaction time, causing increased errors or accidents.” Having what he needed for repairs, Dr. Elefun turned back to his charge with a gentle smile. “And so, here we are.”

Unimpressed, Astro folded his arms and scowled. “Yeah, but I don’t have _time_ to sleep. Crime is always the worst at night and I’m supposed to be protecting this city,” he insisted. “I have responsibilities to my dad and my friends, too. I don’t want to disappoint them.” Astro shifted uncomfortably. “Or cause them unnecessary worry. Dad is _already_ overbearing.”

Dr. Elefun snorted softly, making sure that he had the proper tools laid out. “Dear boy, how can you expect to take care of an entire city if you can’t even protect yourself?”

There was no way for Astro to argue with that, so he didn't try. He was quiet for another minute, watching what Elefun was doing with interest. “Are you going to tell my dad?” Astro asked softly, subdued. He looked like he was struggling to keep his eyes open, like it was asking too much to expect him to be capable of thought.

With a deep sigh, Dr. Elefun stopped fiddling with his supplies and tools to look at Astro. Really _look_ at him. His face didn’t betray any signs of tiredness, being made artificially, but his eyes were so dull and exhausted. He was swaying gently back and forth. Frankly, Elefun had no idea how Astro had been able to stay upright long enough to limp into the room. 

“Well, I was thinking that we could make a deal instead,” Elefun said carefully, trying to sound playful. He didn’t want Astro to think that he was in trouble or cause him even more stress. “When you’re injured, I want you to tell me, regardless of what time it is or where I am or how severe you think it is. I’d much prefer that you let a professional fix you up than attempt to do it yourself. And we’ll say that you need, oh…” He paused purposefully for suspense. “...six hours of sleep a night if you want to buy my silence.”

Of course, children Astro’s age needed around ten or eleven hours of sleep, but six was still much better than going days without sleep. Elefun would take what he could get. 

Astro was skeptical for a moment, quiet for so long that Elefun thought he wasn't going to answer, but then he smiled. “Okay,” he agreed. “I can do that.”

It felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and Elefun relaxed. “Wonderful,” he said. “You can lay back, Astro. Put yourself into a sleep cycle and get some rest while I do these repairs for you, alright?”

He nodded, scooting back on the desk to pull his legs up after him before laying down. Astro took a minute to get comfortable, squirming around the cold surface of the desk, before relaxing properly. “And, Dr. Elefun?”

“Hm? Is something the matter?” He glanced up from his tools.

“No.” Astro shook his head and looked directly up at the ceiling. “I just… Well, thank you. That’s all I wanted to say.”

Dr. Elefun couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his face. “Any time, Astro,” he said and he meant it. Any time, anywhere, rain or shine. Elefun had never had children of his own but he couldn’t ignore the distinctly _fatherly_ way he felt when he saw Astro.

Astro looked up at him long enough to grin, then laid back down and closed his eyes. After another minute, his body was limp and he was breathing softly at regular, completely unnecessary intervals. While he was resting, Dr. Elefun got to work on the repairs.

He could have told Dr. Tenma anyway, despite their deal, but Elefun didn’t. A promise was a promise. It would just have to stay their little secret. 


End file.
